The Gift of Sight
by Aurora Lynn
Summary: Rebecca Sterling meets the Doctor for the first time when she was 10. When they meet a second time,  almost 15 years later, an age old enemy comes back and reveals a startling truth about Rebecca. It is a heck of a lot better than it sounds, trust me.
1. The Banana and the Man

Prologue: The Banana and the Man

"If the time energy catches up with you, you will never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all."

~The Doctor (11), in "Flesh and Stone"

The banana was gone. It wasn't eaten, and it didn't poof or explode or anything, it was just gone. Like it never existed. If Rebecca had blinked or turned away, she would have completely missed it. But she didn't blink and she was staring right at it, so she saw it all. "Mum?" She said, thinking this was some sort of joke. "Mum? What did you do with the banana?"

The weirdest look came upon her mother's face. "What?" She asked, completely sincere.

"What. Did. You. Do. With. The. Banana?" Rebecca said, annunciating each word in case her mother didn't hear her well enough.

"What are you talking about?" She said, her eyes glinting with something. What was it? "What is a banana?"

"You know," Rebecca said, exasperated. "The yellow, curvy fruit that was sitting there just a second ago, waiting to be eaten. That banana."

The look grew stronger in her mother's eyes, and now Rebecca could recognize it. A look of… power. That was the best way to describe it. It was like looking into something bigger than yourself, not knowing what it is and being unable to describe it; some sort of higher being that you weren't supposed to question, just observe. She shivered.

"Stop playing those silly games with me, Rebecca." The older women told her child. "You're always making up these funny things that don't exist. Stop it this instance or you'll be banned from watching TV for the rest of the week."

Knowing it would only do her bad things, Rebecca protested anyway. "But Mum, I'm _not_ pretending. There really _was_ a banana here, just a minute ago. As I was staring at it, it disappeared in a second. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. Please, Mum. Please believe me."

"That's it, young lady. You give me no choice. You're not watching TV for the rest of the week,. Am I understood?" The strange look in her eyes had vanished, and was now replaced by a seething anger that Rebecca had grown to know well.

"Yes, Mum. You're understood." Rebecca stood up from where she was sitting and stretched a bit. "I'm going for a walk, ok?" _Maybe if I take a walk,_ she thought, _I could get this all sorted out. Maybe when I come back things will make sense._ What really scared her was not that the banana had disappeared, or that her mother didn't believe her. The scary part, at least to Rebecca, was that, looking into the greater power in her mother's eyes, she wanted to believe her. She wanted to blindly trust her mother for surely, if her own mother didn't remember what a banana was then maybe she _was_ just making it up. Maybe there was no such thing as a banana.

Rebecca was so immersed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear her mother's soft reply the first or the second time, and her mother was growing quite worried before she finally answered. "What?" She asked simply, not remembering what her mother had said.

"I said, 'That's ok with me. Don't go far.'" Her mother said a little louder. "Are you ok?" As if her daughter was going to disappear before her eyes, she took Rebecca's hand.

"I'm fine, Mum," She said, pulling her arm away from the death grip of her mother. "But my hand won't be if you keep strangling it like that. See you in a few." She stalked out the door, aggravated for no reason.

"You better be back for supper!" Her mother exclaimed before the door slammed shut behind her.

Cool, autumn air blew across her face, a welcome relief from the warm sweat that had suddenly drenched her face back in the house. The leaves in all their brilliant colours were dancing in the wind and she felt safe, sound, and secure. If she had been listening very carefully, she would have heard a sort of whooshing sound in the distance, but all Rebecca heard was the rustling of the leaves.

Before she had gotten to the end of her driveway, she felt something nag at the back of her brain. Something important that she had nearly forgotten…

"_Blimey!"_ She exclaimed out loud. "I've almost forgotten about that banana!" Panicking now, she ran back and forth, saying and thinking _banana_, over and over again. "Ok," She said, after she was done repeating banana many times. "I'm going to draw the banana and write 'banana'. That way, I'll never forget it." By this time, several neighbours who were also outside had began to stare at her, no doubt thinking that she was having one of her moments before slowly shuffling inside. She paid them no mind, instead running into her garage where a box of chalk lay that she had gotten for her 8th birthday.

She ran back to the driveway, satisfied with what she found. She worked quickly, afraid that she might forget about the banana again if she hesitated. Under her breath she kept repeating banana, as if that word alone would help her with her problems. She had so many problems. After she was done with the shaky banana, she wrote banana in big, bright letters right above it. At least, that was the plan, because before she had finished the second 'a' she noticed footsteps in the distance. Looking up, she saw a man running past her very quickly holding something big and shiny in his hand.

To someone older, the man would have looked extremely attractive in every way even coated with sweat as he was. With his drop-dead good-looks, someone older would have fainted on sight. But Rebecca, being only 10 years-old, only saw a queer, creepy man who had appeared out of nowhere who might be some sort of stalker. Without thinking, she yelled at him. "Who are you? And what the heck are you doing?"

When this strange man turned to look back at Rebecca, something stirred within her. Like a bad case of _de ja vu_, she knew she saw him somewhere before but she couldn't quite remember where. It was like she had seen him in a past life, memories that were there but unreachable. She was staring so intently at him that she hadn't noticed that he had stopped running. "I'm the Doctor," He said as if that explained everything. "And I'm very busy. You should just forget about me." He looked back at a strange watch, that even from here Rebecca could tell it wasn't an ordinary watch, and muttered something.

"Like I forgot the banana?" She blurted out without thinking. Quickly, she covered her mouth and looked in his eyes, terrified at what she would find there. Luckily, she found no unearthly power. Just an inquiring look that startled her quite a bit.

"What did you say?" He said slowly, the same words that many others had said to her many times ago when something like this happened to her, but the words sounded different in his mouth. Not disbelieving, but something different.

"Nothing," She said quickly,. "I didn't say anything."

This man didn't look convinced, but Rebecca didn't really care. She wasn't about to explain to this complete stranger about how a banana, which apparently didn't exist anymore, disappeared and nobody remembered. She didn't need another person thinking she was insane.

"Don't forget it," The man said quietly, turning away.

"What?" Rebecca said, wondering if she didn't hear this man quite right. Or if she was really going insane.

"Don't forget about it. The banana," He said, "I mean. Please don't forget it." Now the man turned back to look at her and their eyes met. Suddenly he wasn't there, and he was replaced by black mist. The mist was dark, absorbing all light surrounding it until there was no more. It was the definition of fear itself. She tried to look away, found she couldn't, and instead tried to stand up, and again, found that she couldn't. A moment later, the man was back again and everything was back to normal, except that it wasn't the same. It could never be the same again, for Rebecca had seen something that she, at this stage of her life, couldn't possibly know. She had seen a warning.

The man, obviously unaffected by this unearthly transaction, smiled strangely. "Like I said, you would do well to forget about me. Most people do." With those words, he ran off, leaving poor Rebecca in the dust. She stared after him, wondering what nut job he could be. She had never seen him before, or at least not often, because she didn't recognize him. But still… he looked so familiar to her…

His words came back to her. _You would do well to forget about me. Most people do._ As she stood up, not confused any more, she found some sort of resolve. _Most people do._

_Well_, Rebecca thought, _I'm not most people._


	2. We Meet Again

Chapter One: We Meet Again

"_People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect... but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff."_

_~The Doctor (10), in "Blink"_

Time seemed to stand still as Rebecca Sterling strolled the small forest behind their new home. The newly-grown trees swayed in the slight breeze while other, older trees stood still. Although she had never step foot in this forest before, she didn't think about losing her way. She may have used to give excuses concerning getting lost and being late home, but in reality she didn't get lost. So instead she turned her thoughts to memorizing the faint pathways that her feet took her, determined not to think of anything else.

The last time something strange had happened to her, or at least something strange to other people, was when she was ten, with the 'banana' that she wasn't sure existed anymore. No one seemed to remember a banana except that queer man she had met not two minutes after it happened. Although it had been fourteen years since she met the man, she still remembered him clear as day. She even remembered his exact words. _You will do well to forget about me. Most people do._

Rebecca didn't know why she remembered the man so clearly. He didn't even give her his real name. If she could use this ability at whim, she wouldn't be having any problems at work. But no, the only thing she could ever remember clearly were the stranger things in her life. Something about him made her want to learn more about him. He was an enigma, and she wanted to find out all of his secrets.

Shaking her head, she started to move faster, hoping to leave behind these odd thoughts. _Stop it! _She chastised herself. _That happened fourteen years ago! There's no need to relive old memories. You're in a new town, getting a new job and there is no need for this nonsense._

But no matter how far or fast she travelled, her thoughts kept up with her easily. Rebecca was about to give up and find her way back home, which she knew exactly where to go, when she came across a clearing. The trees weren't any bigger, and the sky wasn't any more bluer, but something about this clearing made her sigh with relief. From curiosity more than anything else, she broke through the ring of trees surrounding the clearing to see what was there.

For the first few seconds, Rebecca was blinded from the sudden sunlight that shined on her face. But even after her eyes recovered, there wasn't much to see. There were no plants or animals in the clearing, nothing very interesting to look at except for what could possibly be the most intriguing thing that she had ever seen in her life. Sitting right there, in the middle of this remote clearing, was a blue, wooden box. It was about two heads taller than she was, with "Police Box" written at the top of it. It seemed to glow with its own light, and everything else seemed dark in comparison.

Rebecca stared at the box for a few moments, wondering what such a peculiar box was doing in the middle of the forest behind her house. When she did move, she started to circle the box, trying to find the video camera or the hosts of some stupid prank show about to jump out, yelling "You've just been busted". After a few minutes, when no people jumped out or no video camera could be found, she took a chance and moved closer to it. As nothing happened to her or the box as she edged closer to it, she got braver and started to move quicker. She kept moving until the police box was right in front of her face.

If anything else was right in front of her face, she would have heard the humming emanating from the blue box, reverberating in her skull. But the blue box intrigued her and she couldn't think about anything else except about it. Rebecca tried looking through one of the windows and couldn't see anything inside the box. She did all of this without touching it, as if for fear that if she touched it, it would vanish before she could find out what it was doing to it.

At last, she could wait no more. It was as if the box was calling to her, communicating with her very soul. _Come to me,_ it was saying. _Come to me and find out my secrets_. Rebecca reached out her hand and, surprisingly hesitant, made it hover an inch above the surface. Slowly, yet surely, she brought the slightly wavering hand closer to the box until it finally came in contact with the smooth surface.

In seconds, the blue box and everything around it disappeared before her very eyes, and was replaced by an man old man whom she'd never seen before. The image was a little fuzzy, as if it was an hundred year old memory. Then the image changed, slowly at first, than faster into 10 other people, all men of about the same age. The images blurred together until Rebecca couldn't distinguish one from another. Brilliant colours and weird creatures floated in and out of her vision, replaced by another just as quickly. Just as suddenly as the bizarre slide show began it ended, the last image was of a man with girlish brown hair, almost to the point of it being black. He was wearing a bow tie and suspenders, a weird combination.

Rebecca felt slightly light headed, like too much information had been crammed into her brain in too short of a time. She felt like she should sit down, and she was about to when she heard a distinctly male voice behind her.

"Most people just walk by my blue box without even noticing it," It said as Rebecca spun around, black hair flying all over the place. Right in front of her was the last image that she saw when she touched the blue box, slightly girlish brown hair with a bow tie and suspenders. Only he was more attractive than the man in the image. "But you just have to go right out and touch it. Why?" He continued, as if nothing happened. Which to him, of course, nothing did.

"It was there, and it was weird," She replied, slightly annoyed by this man's sudden inquisition. "So what if I touched it? I didn't do anything to it." Hopefully this wasn't one of the weird people in her life, like the queer man those fourteen years ago. For some reason, he reminded her of that man.

"Still, you shouldn't go around touching blue boxes. You don't know where they may have been been," He said as if that wasn't the weirdest thing that someone had said to her. "Now go home to wherever you came from, and leave me alone. I'm doing something important." For reasons unknown even to Rebecca, she didn't do as the older man told her to, who had to be at least twice as strong as she was, and stayed.

"What are you doing that's so important?" She asked instead, taking a step away from the blue box and toward the man.

"Nothing you would know of," He said. "Important stuff."

Rebecca didn't give up, even though the chances of the man actually giving her some answers were slim. "Try me. I just might know." When the man didn't answer, she tried another tactic. "What's your name anyway?"

This time he actually turned and looked at her, his intense, brown eyes staring into hers. "Didn't I tell you to go home?" He asked, but Rebecca didn't hear him. She didn't hear anything except the sound of her own breathing, which was growing louder and faster as the seconds ticked by. Instead of hearing anything, she saw a sight that she had hoped that she would never see again. A sort of black mist with a greenish tint surrounded the man, identical to the mist around the similar man fourteen years ago. It swirled around him, creating a vortex where the man was the eye of it. Suddenly, doing something very different than what happened fourteen years ago, the mist turned to her.

It started coming towards her, while the man just stood there, his expression completely and totally vacant. It inched closer, taking its time, allowing fear set in its victim. It swirled around her and she could feel the energy emanating out of the mist. Instead of circling around her, like it did to the man, leaving her untouched, it came closer and closer until it was suffocating her. It filled her lungs, her vision, and her very soul. Everything around her was black and green, and her vision was slowly going white. She gasped again, hoping that this time she would get a lungful of air instead of this powerful mist. She wasn't that lucky and, her vision going completely white, and fell backwards.

She was faintly aware of strong arms holding her, green light, and the sound of a voice. But she couldn't concentrate on it and fell into a restless sleep. When she woke up, the man's face was mere inches from hers and she could smell his breath on her face. It smelled of… fish and custard? Before she could ponder on this strange scent, the man was saying something. "Hello? Are you OK?" He was saying, genuine concern filling his voice. She concentrated on the sound of his voice, letting it bring her fully back into consciousness.

"Huh?" She said, still not fully awake yet. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," He said when he took out a weird looking stick-thingy that glowed a green light when he pressed a button and held it to her face. "From what I could tell, you were just standing there when your eyes rolled back and fainted. Does that happen often?" His voice was so loud in her ringing ears; she almost felt the need to cover her ears from the loudness of it.

"No, that's never happened to me before," She replied, her voice sounding soft, even to her. The man didn't say anything, instead he only held the stick-thingy that glowed a green light up to her face for a few more seconds and seemed to be checking something. "What's that?" She asked, feeling a little bit better already. She didn't even realize that he had put her down and she was on the ground now.

"This? This is a sonic screwdriver," He said, examining Rebecca one last time before slowly standing up. He offered her his hand, which she ignored and she stood up herself, which only resulted in her being on the ground again. She gave a slight exclamation and the man was immediately by her side again. "You OK?" He asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just fell, that's all." He gave her a peculiar look before standing up again. He offered her his hand again, which this time she took. Within a few seconds she was back on her feet and she didn't let go of his hand before the wave of nausea passed. "See? I'm fine," Rebecca said again and looked around. "What does a sonic screwdriver do?"

The question seemed to take him by surprise. "It does lots of things," The man said. "Right then it was checking your vitals to make sure they were normal. It can also unlock doors, lock doors, track signals, and lots of other stuff. It's quite handy, actually." He started to walk back to the blue box, key in hand again.

She decided to try again with her interrogations, hoping she could take him by surprise again. "What's your name?"

"I told you, my name's not important. You will do well to forget about me. Most people do," He said, looking into her eyes again. This time no black mist came out and choked her, but something else happened to her that reminded her of the man fourteen years ago. The words that queer man had spoken fourteen years ago had come out of this man's mouth. _You will do well to forget about me. Most people do._ Rebecca gasped audibly, taking a step backward which made the man think that she was going to faint again. "You've got to stop doing that," He said, his smile not reaching his eyes. "I worry for your health."

"You… you're…him!" She exclaimed, completely ignoring the fact that he said something. "You're that man from fourteen years ago!"

The man gave me a look that clearly said 'you're crazy'. "Are you sure you're ok? You hit your head pretty hard back there…."

Rebecca still ignored him, too caught up in her revelation to listen to him. "I still remember you, even after all of these years! You look different, but still… you have to be him. The same words, same black mist… hey! I even bet that you still remember what a banana is!"

It was this that got the man's attention. "Banana?" He said, now seeing Rebecca in a new light. "You… remember bananas? No else in this world does!"

"Exactly! You _must_ be him!" Rebecca said. "Don't you remember me?" There was a little bit of disappointment in her voice, though she didn't know why. Even though she remembered him clearly as if the day happened not fourteen years ago, but one night ago, doesn't mean that this man, a complete stranger, would remember her with even remotely the same clarity.

"I don't remember _you_," He admitted a little sheepishly. "You've changed quite a bit from the little girl that I remember. But I do remember a little girl with long black hair and startling clear gray eyes who remembers bananas even though the rest of the human race forgot about them. I don't think I could ever forget that." Despite herself, inwardly Rebecca sighed with relief. So he _did_ remember her.

"Were you the cause of it?" She asked, hoping to find more information about him. She still wanted to know about him and his life.

"No," He replied with no hesitation. "although I have no idea what did. The alteration in time happened too fast for me to track it, so I couldn't explore the cause." He paused for a second and tilted his head. "But I was my 10th regeneration back then."

Now it was Rebecca's turn to be confused. "Your _what_?" She asked, thinking she didn't hear him exactly. In fact, she didn't understand most of what he was saying but the last sentence was just absurd.

"My 10th regeneration. I regenerate into a new form whenever I sustain a wound that would kill a human. Long story, not enough time to tell it. What I'm saying is that I've changed from when I first saw you. Every cell in my body's different now. It isn't possible that you remember me, much less recognize me."

Suddenly Rebecca felt embarrassed about telling the man what she saw. She felt, deep down, that it might not be such a good thing. After all, it tried to choke her. "It was the black mist that gave you away." She said quietly, secretly hoping that he wouldn't hear her.

Unluckily for her, the man had perfect hearing and could hear her words quite well. But that didn't stop him from saying "What?"

"The black mist," Rebecca said, a little less embarrassed. "Sometimes, when I look into your eyes, I can see a… sort of blackish and greenish mist. Like right now, I can see it!" She exclaimed, pointing. He took a step back despite himself. "It follows you wherever you go. It's like a residue and…" She stopped suddenly, once more embarrassed about what she had experienced. She didn't understand why she was telling him all of this. After all, she didn't need him to think she's crazy too.

The man waited a moment before saying "And… what?" If he thought she was crazy, he didn't say anything.

"And… it kind of… suffocated me," She said, her head down. "That's why I fainted. If you saw me choking, that's because something was filling my lungs. The black mist. If it hadn't released me when it did, I don't know what would have happened."

The man rushed up to her side, something in her words or the sound of her voice causing him to be concerned. "Are you sure of what you saw?" He asked solemnly, using a voice that was soft yet commanding. Even if she didn't want to, she had no choice but to do as he asked.

"Of course I'm sure!" She exclaimed, caught by surprise at the question. With most people Rebecca told about the strange happenings in her life, they didn't get this far. If they did get this far without thinking that she was crazy, this was where they usually told her some comforting words and called a therapist.

"We should come into the TARDIS. It'll be safer there." He said, taking her hand.

"The TARDIS?" Rebecca couldn't help but asking. Everything was so strange to her, even more so than usual.

"The blue box. It's my time and space ship. It stands for 'Time And Relative Dimensions In Space'. Now will you just come with me? We've got a lot to talk about."

Rebecca didn't move with him as he moved forward, and he was forced to pull on her arm. "Hold on!" She yelled at him, knowing that if that didn't work he would be able to force her into the box to do who-knows-what with her. The man stopped instantly and turned back at her. "I barely know you. I've only seen you twice, both in weird circumstances. What will people think if they found out I went into a blue box in the middle of a privately owned forest with a man at least twice her age, and a complete stranger at that?" She was huffing by the time she had finished yelled at him.

He took a moment to consider what Rebecca had just said. "Sorry. I didn't even think about it. I'm just used to living on the run that those things often slip my mind. I swear on the life of my dead race that I mean you no harm in any way. I only wish to talk to you."

Although they were the words that any pervert would say to convince a young girl to come with them, there was something about the sincerity in his voice that made Rebecca believe him._ Or, more correctly,_ she thought, _you're too blinded by curiosity to say no, despite the risks. Well, you know what they say. Curiosity kills the cat._

With that being said, or rather thought, she had made her decision. "Alright," She said, looking into his eyes again no without a little fear. When nothing happened, she moved on. "I'll go with you. But _just_ to talk. Try anything, and I'll use my pepper spray against you." Rebecca motioned to her bag and they both laughed.

"Heaven forbid, pepper spray!" The Doctor said between laughs. She was glad to see the Doctor smile without any worry. It was truly a sight to see. When the moment had passed, he grabbed her by her hand, more gently this time, and said "Come on! We're burning daylight!" And with that they ran to the TARDIS. While the Doctor fiddled with the key, Rebecca remembered something.

"I don't believe I told you my name," She said to him suddenly, for no particular reason. "I'm Rebecca Sterling."

The Doctor turned momentarily from his work with the key. "Nice to meet you, Rebecca Sterling." And without another word he went back to his work with the key.


	3. Inside the Box

Chapter Two: Inside the Box

"_Amy Pond, there's something you better understand about me, 'cause it's important and one day your life may depend on it. I am __definitely__ a madman with a box!"_

_~The Doctor (11__th__) in "The Eleventh Hour"_

With a faint _click_ the door to the TARDIS opened and the Doctor ushered Rebecca inside before she could change her mind. He shut the door behind her but was sure to leave it unlocked for Rebecca's piece of mind. For some reason, when the Doctor told her that this blue box was her space ship, she didn't even think about the size of the box. It wasn't that she ignored it; everything happened so fast that she didn't have the time to think of how much room was in the box. Only when she had entered the box and saw that it was bigger on the inside did she stare at disbelief. How could it be bigger on the inside than on the outside? But there was another part of her that accepted this fact and it was almost like it was to be expected. It was very faint, however, and Rebecca gave it no heed.

She was about to open her mouth and let the Doctor know what she saw when he spoke. "Yes, I know, it's bigger on the inside than on the outside. Without spending hours explaining, it's basically a separate dimension." Or at least, that was what he was going to say when Rebecca said "a separate dimension" at the same time as the Doctor.

They both looked at each other for a second when she looked away, curiosity drawing her eyes away from his. He didn't look away, but instead stared directly at her intently. "How did you know that?"

There was a second delay as Rebecca debated whether or not to tell the Doctor the truth. She decided against it, but in that time he had already figured out that she was lying before she even spoke. "Know about what?"

"How did you know about the TARDIS is basically another dimension?" He said again, continuing to stare at her until she felt quite uncomfortable. "No one knows about that until I tell them."Rebecca shook her head, hoping that would communicate the fact that she didn't know. "How did you know?" He insisted.

"You sure are insistent," She said, trying to buy time to find the right thing to say. She decided that the truth would be the best. "I… I don't know. I just… did, that's all. I just knew." She looked back at the Doctor. "Is this a bad thing?"

He immediately shook his head, though he wasn't really sure himself. Right now he was still trying to figure everything out. "No, it isn't. You must have read it somewhere. There are tons of theories out there, and that particular one must be right." He continued his brief tour of the TARDIS by showing her the controls. "This," He explained, motioning to the controls, "Is how I travel through time. This tube contains…" He was about to finish when Rebecca cut in.

"The tube contains huon energy, which the TARDIS uses to teleport anywhere through space and time." She stopped there, prepared to go on, but was terrified at her own knowledge. She was scared of the unknown, and this definitely goes under that category. "How did I know that?" She whispered.

"I don't know," The Doctor replied with a peculiar sort of voice. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to some sort of lever in the control panel.

"That's a vortex loop," Rebecca answered without hesitation. "It…" she stopped when she realized what she was doing, but continued eventually in a much softer voice. "It keeps the TARDIS stable as it goes through vortexes. Without it, it might fall down and never be able to stop."

"How did you know that?" He repeated, more to himself than to anyone else. He went on before she even had the chance to reply. "You can't have known that. It's impossible for a human to know all of that… not even Rory knew all of that…"

It was hard for Rebecca to keep up with him because he was speaking so fast, but she did hear "human" and "Rory". "A human? You say that as if you're not one! And who's Rory?"

"Shush. I'm talking," He said, cutting her off. "Now, humans can't know all of that unless they've encountered me before and have been in the TARDIS, and plus you could see some greenish blackish mist surrounding me, which that in itself may not be so good. So that all means you must not be human really." She was about to protest when the Doctor lifted a hand to stop her again. "Hold on a second." He pulled out a box from underneath the control panel. He started pulling out things, muttering things like "severed hand" and "intergalactic cell phone" and other nonsense that Rebecca had no idea what he was talking about. She didn't even bother to ask how everything fit in there, for fear of another piece of information that she didn't even know she knew would be released from her mind.

This continued for about a minute, the box seemingly endless until a big machine with a bunch of mirrors attached was in his hands. "There we are! If you'll be so kind as to look in this mirror…." Rebecca sighed and decided that if this was going to end this nonsense, she would do it. So she took a step toward the Doctor and looked into the mirror. Once she saw what was there, she gasped audibly. Or, rather, when she saw what _wasn't_ there. Because when she looked into the mirror, all she saw was the TARDIS behind her. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Doctor…." She said slowly. "Is this some kind of trick? If it is, this isn't funny?" She took a step back from the mirror, than a step forward. She waved her hand in front of this and made all kind of movement but nothing changed. Her reflection wasn't showing.

In an instant he was right beside her, right out of the way of the mirrors but so that he could still see what was there. "That can't be right. No, no, no that _can't_ be right." He wacked it with his spare hand. "It must be broken, though I just used it awhile ago…." Getting an idea, he turned the machine around to face him and looked in it.

A mechanical voice came out of the machine, saying "Time Lord of Gallifrey." It was about to say more when the Doctor turned it back and faced it towards Rebecca again. "Well, at least we know it's working… but why can't it see you?"

"What's the big deal? Is this some kind of 'welcome to Cardiff' joke? Am I supposed to believe that this is a space ship and you're a 'Time Lord of Gallifrey' or something like that?" When he didn't answer, she stormed off, not aware of the immense work that was going on that brilliant man's head. "Gah! I can't believe I'm this stupid to fall for such an idiotic trick! I'm going home!"

She started to head for the door when the Doctor looked up from his work to look at her. "Believe what you like, but this is my spaceship and I am a Time Lord of Gallifrey. This is as serious as it gets, and if you leave now I might never discover why you know so much. Basically, if you go now I won't be able to help you." For the second time, Rebecca heard something, some sort of passion in his words that caused her to believe in him. Without a word, she walked back to him with his machine. She watched intently him thinking and muttering quietly, turning the machine this way and that.

Finally she could contain it no longer and said "What does that thing do anyway? Is it some kind of encyclopaedia or something?"

"Kind of," The Doctor said as he tinkered with the internal mechanics of the machine. "It was given to me by my two headed aunt when she didn't know what else to give me." He shivered, although it wasn't cold. "You don't get her mad, because both of her heads start to yell at you. Not a pretty sight."

It took a second before Rebecca realized that he wasn't joking, and had to hold back her laughter. "So it it's 'kind of' an encyclopaedia, how does it work? And why doesn't my reflection show?"

"Well, to put it in simple terms, this machine takes an image, namely your reflection, and looks it up on its massive database. If there's any chance of identifying what something is, this is your best bet. But it's not that simple. Not only does it take your physical appearance, it is also what you would call an x-ray and takes a reading of what's inside of you so it will also identify changelings for what they are. It isn't an ordinary mirror, so if something doesn't exist it doesn't show up.

"I thought it was broken at first, even though it was unlikely since I had used it mere days ago." He paused here a second as if recollecting the instance when he last used it. "But when I turned it upon myself and it identified me, I was certain that there wasn't anything wrong with the machine. Of course, I haven't used it against humans before and that could be the source of the problem. No offence, but I don't think that something as simple as a human could mess it up. So, basically, I have no idea why you didn't show up. The only answer I've got is that you don't exist." Even though Rebecca couldn't have understood most of what the Doctor told her if he had been talking at a regular speed, she heard the very last sentence and the look on her face told him that he made a mistake telling her exactly what he thought.

It still took a few minutes before she had absorbed enough of the information so she could speak. When she did she said this: "So, what you're saying is that I don't exist. All twenty-four years of my life, I wasn't meant to exist. I'm a fake." Even though she said the words herself, she still didn't realize the enormity of the words. As it was, she decided that it was best if she sat down.

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying," The Doctor assured her without hesitation, putting down the machine to look her in the eye. "I'm saying that's the only answer _I've_ got. Believe it or not, I'm not omniscient. I don't know everything. I'm sure that I can find the real answer, something that makes sense. There's always a logical answer to everything." It sounded reassuring to Rebecca, but she still didn't believe him. Something in his words rang true.

While the human was musing over his words, he got right back to work trying to figure out what was wrong with the machine. Even though all of his instincts told him Rebecca didn't exist, the Time Lord didn't think that it was possible that someone who had a substantial body could not exist. It just didn't make sense. Intrigued by the alien machine, Rebecca reached out to touch it. But as soon as it came in contact with her skin it started to produce sparks and the screen went blank. Terrified that she had broken it, she flung her hand that was touching the metal to her mouth to cover the gasp. The Doctor was in action immediately, spinning the machine towards him again. "What did you do?" He demanded of her. He fingered the spot where she had touched it, now scared with a burn mark.

"I didn't do anything!" Rebecca yelled back. She glared at the machine. "_It_ shocked _me_. _It_ should be the one you ask the question. Not me." She was tempted to hit the machine with her hand, but recalling her previous experience with touching it, she decided against it.

Almost as soon as she was done speaking the Doctor was shaking his head. "Maybe human technology shocks people, but this is alien technology. It's way too advanced to shock people. What exactly did you do?"

"I touched the thing, right there," Rebecca said in a much softer tone, pointing to the point that she touched it. "And then sparks flew. Literally. Then I pulled my hand away, and we had the argument that we're having now. Do you want me to quote the whole thing?"

The Doctor ignored the last statement, too occupied with the mystery that continued to unfold right in front of him to pay attention to such insignificant things. He looked in the circuitry, fingering each of the wires in the mechanics of the machine. They all looked fine, and if he didn't know better than he would assume that it was working properly. The only thing that seemed wrong with it was the burn marks on the metallic surface.

Rebecca was wondering much the same thing. _First sharing memories with a box, than fainting in front of a stranger, and now breaking a machine with a touch!_ The truth in her thoughts stung her to the bone. _You thought that the strange things would go away upon moving. Not get even more weird!_

"You know when something happens and you can't really explain it?" He said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. Even though his eyes never left the machine, she could tell that he was gauging her reactions. "Something so weird that it couldn't possibly happen, but it did anyway?" It was almost like he was reading her mind, saying the exact same things that she thought. For moment she wondered if that was one of his alien powers. "Like when someone just disappears, and no one seems to remember them? Or when you see something in the sky, bright and big yet everyone looks like you're mad? People acting strange, inanimate objects moving, parents punishing you for things you didn't do? Has those things happened to you?" Now he looked up at her to gauge her reaction to his words.

It looked like Rebecca was about to answer the Doctor's question when her face lit up. "My Dad! He's probably wondering where the hell I am! Blimey, the first day here and he's already going to think I got lost. What time is it?" He sighed a deep sigh and headed for the door. He almost unlocked an important piece of information, but didn't come close enough. He had only met this girl, this older self of the little girl he met today, fourteen years ago for her, and he was already ravelling himself in a mystery. When he reached the door he opened it with a curious Rebecca following.

"You know, I just need to know what time it is. I can find out when I get home," She said, thinking he was going to roam the woods until he found a clock. She wouldn't put it past him to do that.

"Shush. I'm doing something," Was his reply. He sniffed at the air a few times, and said "It's five o'clock, about." He sniffed again, and corrected himself. "It's five-o-six, exactly."

Rebecca had seen a lot of strange things that day, yet this amazed her more than most of them. "You can tell the time just by _sniffing the air_?" She asked incredulously. Before the alien could reply, she shook her head and said: "You know what, don't answer that. I need to go home before my Dad sends out the police. See you tomorrow?" She didn't know why she wanted to see this madman tomorrow, or any other day for that matter. Any other person would be running away right now, and she was asking if she could come over again the next day.

The Doctor had different thoughts entirely. For the first time he saw Rebecca for what she really was, a sixteen year-old girl that had just started living her life. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, she was just a young, frightened girl, not the puzzle he saw her as. He knew that if she came back tomorrow, she would eventually get hurt because of him. So in that instant he made a decision that would affect everything. "I'll be right here. Are you sure you won't get lost? You said this was your first day here. I could give you a lift…" He patted the TARDIS with his hand.

The offer tempted her but in the end she decided against it. "No. I mean no thank you. It would be too weird. See you tomorrow." With that the Doctor moved away from the door and Rebecca walked out, looking back at the blue box more than a few times. When she was a safe distance away from the TARDIS, he went back inside. He walked about the control panel for a few minutes, making small adjustments and keeping an eye on the radar. If the fact that he didn't see Rebecca on the radar bugged him, he didn't let it show. Finally when he knew that she had no chance of seeing him, the Doctor set the controls, pulled a few levers, and held on tight. Within a few moments the blue box was gone.


	4. A Discussion Over Tea

**Hullo there! If you see any writing in bold, then that means that it's me, Aurora Lynn, talking! I just wanted to say thank you for choosing to read this story. It means a lot to me, it really does. You know what will mean more to me? If you review it. Come on, you know you want to. Anyway, here's something that I've forgotten to put in the previous chapters:**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, in any way shape or form, own the Doctor, the TARDIS, any items in the TARDIS, the Time Lords, "My Chemical Romance", bananas, or anything else that you recognize from elsewhere. What I do own, however, is Rebecca and Artur and the storyline.**

Chapter Three: A Discussion over Tea

"_The universe will sing you to sleep"_

_~Ood Sigma in "Planet of the Ood"_

Rebecca got home that day to her father, whose name was Artur, sipping a cup of tea and reading the newspaper. As soon as the door shut behind her, he looked up and smiled a toothy grin. "There you are, sweetheart. How was your walk in the woods? Here, I even made you a cup. Might be a bit cold though, but a cold cup of tea is better than none at all, my mum always used to say.

She sat down next to her dad and grabbed the cup of tea. Sipping it, she realized that is was cold, almost as if someone put an ice cube in it. She drank it anyway, if only to make her dad happy "My walk was fine, Dad. Sorry I took so long getting back. It's just… I got lost. There were markers on the trees on the path, but I lost them and next thing I knew I was lost. You're right; I should have taken a map with me or at least brought someone along. It won't happen again." Her Dad just looked at her with his gray eyes—the same gray eyes that she had.

"I'm not mad at you, Rebecca," Artur said calmly. "You always come back, safe and sound, so I'm not worried about you."

"But, still. I shouldn't have stayed out so long." Rebecca replied, upset at herself.

"Honey, you've only been out for a few hours—"

"I know that, Dad, but what if something happened—" She continued, standing up.

"Nothing is going to happen to me in a few—"

"But what if something did? What would happen if—"

"You worry about me too much. I don't want to—"

"You don't worry about yourself enough! What if—"

"Oh, what if, what if! Is that all you ever say?"

"So what if it is? I seem like I'm the only one that cares about what happens to you when I'm gone."

Artur was soon silent, looking directly at Rebecca. She instantly regretted saying those harsh words to her father, but she couldn't take them back now. It was just that she was genuinely worried about her father, yet sometimes it seems like he didn't care what happened to himself.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean it like—"

"It's OK Rebecca," He Dad said with a wave of her hand. His voice was back to normal and a smile came across his face. "I know you just care about me, and it's really sweet. But you need to worry about more than me. What are you going to do with your life?"

"Well, right now I'm applying for some jobs so I can support us—"

He shook his head, cutting her off. "I mean after I'm gone. You can't spend the rest of your life holed up in here."

"Dad, don't talk like that." Rebecca replied, her voice catching in her throat. "You're not going anywhere any time soon."

"You know that's not true." Her dad stood up shakily, and Rebecca could hear the various cracks in the bones in doing even that simple task. She immediately went over to help him, but he shook his head again. He managed to stand up and, with the help of the table, made his way to her. "You see? I can barely stand up and walk a few steps without a lot of effort."

Rebecca looked at her Dad for a moment, so frail. She could tell that even standing up was a challenge for him. "But that'll change. The doctor said that, with the right treatment, you would recover—"

"She said that I _might_ recover. And even that probably isn't going to happen." He looked into her eyes, looking for something that only he knew. "Honey, I'm dying, and you know it."

"You're not dying," Rebecca protested. He was only sick, but you could recover from being sick. Anyone could recover from being sick. "That's why we moved here, so we can get the proper treatment for you. With the chemotherapy and the medicine that they have hear, you'll recover in no time."

Even before she was done speaking he was shaking his head, tears in his eyes. "Sweetie, both you and I know that that isn't going to happen. The doctor said that I have months to live. Maybe even less. It's time for you to admit that."

But Rebecca couldn't, _wouldn't_, accept the fact that her father was going to die. He had been alive far too long to leave now, right when she needed him most. Not with her mother dead, with no one else she could really talk openly to. She hadn't even got to tell him about the Doctor, or the truth behind the strange events in your life. "No, Dad, you're _not_ going to die. You can't just die on me, not right now!"

"I didn't say that I was going to die right now," He said calmly, his voice helping stable Rebecca's unstable emotions. "But you need to stop worrying about me so much and get out and _do_ something. I don't want you caught up here taking care of your old dad."

"You're not old, Dad," Rebecca replied, mostly because there was really nothing else she could say. This conversation was moving too fast for her to keep up.

"I'm old enough, Rebecca," Her dad sighed. "I've had my time. It's time for you to have yours."

"Please don't talk like that," Rebecca protested. "At least, not now. We've only just moved here; why darken it with such a depressing topic? Besides, you're not leaving any time soon." When her dad began to protest, she just shook your head. "You're not going anywhere any time soon because I won't let you, do you understand? You won't be dying on my watch." It was amazing what the mind could do when faced with a problem that it couldn't handle; it just replaced it with a calmer, less threatening thought.

Artur chuckled, also glad for a way to stop talking about such depressing things. "All right, ma'am. I fear for the safety of anyone who dares get in your way." They both laughed away their misgivings, allowing the laughter to help ease the pain that they felt so sharply. This wasn't the first time that they'd had a conversation like that, but somehow it always ended with laughter of some sort.

"Now, if you're done giving me 'the talk,'" Rebecca said lightly. "I'm going to start dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm famished." As soon as she said that, she filled a pot with water and placed it on the stove.

With great effort, her dad walked slowly back to the seat that he had previously occupied. He picked up the newspaper and looked at an article with great interest. "Hey, hun, look at this article. Seems like them scientists found dug up an old burial site, a big one this time."

Rebecca didn't even look up from what she was doing to see what her dad was talking about. "That's nice, Dad. Where did you put the sauce again?"

"Top cupboard, all the way to the left—but they've found something real interesting. It says that this ancient native group are depicted as worshiping some sort of fruit—says that they considered it the fruit of the gods."

"That's fascinating," Rebecca said in a bored tone, preparing the sauce. "But I honestly don't see what it's got to do with us."

"Nothing, really," Her dad continued staring at the article. "But it's the name of the fruit that go my attention. According to them experts those natives called—and still call today, for that matter—it a 'banana'." As soon as he said that Rebecca froze on the spot. She hadn't heard that word said in so long, since—well, since that day. But that didn't count, because the Doctor said that. The last time she had heard that word by a normal person's lips was fourteen years ago, before they didn't exist anymore. She walked over to the newspaper as calmly as she could when in fact her heart was racing. "That name sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? No idea why, though." He trailed off, and continued staring at the article. After some time he pointed to one of the pictures, an ancient tablet. "That's what they said they looked like, strange thing. Have you ever heard of a yellow fruit?"

"No, never," She replied absentmindedly, still staring at the article. "What does it say about the 'banana'?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." He said, skimming through the words. "It basically says that it was the food that only the gods ate. It says that if any mortal was caught with one then they'd be sentenced to death immediately. And these gods aren't your normal gods either; big beasts with green scales, they look an awful lot like lizards. But not ordinary lizards; they walk on two legs, like humans do. Like a lizard and a human hybrid."

"Sounds…weird." Rebecca finished, having no other words that would fit in that sentence. "What happened to the banana? In the story I mean."

"Well, according to the tablets, it says that a great trickster stole them, one who was greater than the gods themselves. He took away the 'bananas' far away and they were never to be seen again. The gods were furious and blamed the mortals for it, even though it wasn't their fault. In their wrath they destroyed every last member of the tribe to pay for the loss of the sacred fruit." Her dad paused for a moment. "Makes you wonder who wrote down the story, if they all died. Anyway, it must've taken a lot of imagination to come up with a story like that."

Although he was trying to be funny, Rebecca was still caught up in the story. "Maybe they didn't come up with that story. Maybe that's what really happened." She was going to say more when the buzzer went off, and she resumed cooking.

It wasn't until after she had dinner and was about ready to go to bed when she finally allowed herself to even think about the article that her dad has shown her earlier. At first she tried to convince herself that it was just a coincidence, that any ancient civilization could come up with a story with a story about a curvy yellow fruit called a banana that all disappeared without a trace. _Yeah, like that's possible_, She thought. _Face it, it's another strange event in your life._

_It's not like it's never happened before._

Although the statement above was absolutely correct, she had a hard time bringing herself to face that fact. First her dad going around saying that he was going to die, then the mention of the 'banana'. Which didn't exist, never existed at all. But then how did the Doctor know about it? Was he crazy, like everyone thought she was? These thoughts ran through her head at the speed of light and even showering didn't clear her mind. _What if the banana really did exist and everyone else just simultaneously forgot about it?_ A small voice in her mind whispered to her.

_Don't be thick,_ The other part of her brain, which was considerably louder than the other. _There is no way that everyone in the world to forget something at the same time. It was a silly, childish thing. I was ten. I do things like that._

_But the Doctor's at least twice that, if not older,_ The small voice countered with maddening reason. _And the chances of you _both_ knowing what a banana was is slim to none._

_It's about the same chance as everyone on the planet forgetting what a fruit was, and makes much more sense. He's crazy, just like I am._

_You're not crazy, you just know more things than everyone else. Crazy people are for insane asylums._

_Crazy people are people who have arguments with themselves._ As soon as she thought this, her face turned red even though no one was in the room. _Great. Now I'm arguing with myself. As if people didn't think I was crazy enough already. If I wasn't crazy before, now I'm finally off the rocker. _Without further thought, for she did not want to get into another argument with herself, she threw her jimjams on and slipped into bed. When various images of her dad, the Doctor, and bananas (a very strange combination indeed) she reached over and turned on her I-Pod onto her favourite band, "My Chemical Romance". She let the music drain away all of her thoughts.

It soon became clear that not even "My Chemical Romance" would drown out all of her thoughts and she didn't wish to disturb her dad with her music. So she turned it off and rolled over, and waited for sleep to come. It wasn't until a mysterious lullaby started echoing through her head that her eyelids began to droop. Normally she would have stayed away pondering the source of the lullaby, but sleep was coming so fast that not even she could fight its clutches for long and fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of bananas and telephone boxes.

**There is is, Chapter Three! I hope you enjoyed it and please please please reviewed if you liked it. Even if you didn't like it, review it telling me why you didn't like it. I'm working on Chapter Four now, but you might have to wait awhile. Keep writing!**

**~Aurora Lynn~**


	5. A Calling

**Here it is, Chapter Four of The Gift of Sight! Sorry it took so long to complete. I've had to share my computer with the rest of my family since the main one is broken, and shared computer = less writing. Anyway, this one's weird, but I still hope that you like it enough to read and review! Next chapter coming up soon, and the next one won't take so long. I promise.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Doctor *sigh*, the TARDIS, and any other notable things in the this chapter. I do, however, own Rebecca and the music that plays in her head. Randomly. *ahem* Anway…here it is!**

Chapter Four: A Calling

"You need to get out of here, right now!"

~The Doctor (10) in "The Lazarus Experiment"

Rebecca woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, something that surprised her, especially considering the late hour that she finally managed to fall asleep the night before. Blinking away the sleep that remained, she turned over and looked at her clock. It read, in almost blindingly cheerful red letters, 4; 27 A.M. She groaned and closed her eyes, as if denying the time would make it go away. Normally, she took every opportunity she could to sleep in. Yet today, for some reason she couldn't fall back asleep. Something remained some half remembered dream that stayed with her, even upon waking. Something about music….

Then it crushed down upon her, a symphony of sound and colour filling her senses. Harmonious music reverberated in her skull, music that would put angels to shame. _This _was what woke her up—music so beautiful that once heard, forgetting it was impossible. It was a song of simple rejoicing, welcoming the new day full of wonders and delight. Yet, amongst the orchestra of fluid music, one question haunted her.

_If she had dreamt the music, why could she still hear it?_

Even though this question was persistent, she still let the song carry her away. How did she live before the music, the wonderful, glorious melody that now inhabited her? She began to concentrate on the melody, listening for words, instruments, or even notes. But no matter how hard she listened, all she could pick out was music so breathtaking that she couldn't help but shed a few tears. Not that it was a bad thing.

She could have listened to that song all morning, yet the music changed so suddenly that she almost fell off of her bed. It swelled up in a burst of energy, changing from the quiet, fluid notes that it originally had to a louder tune. In fact, the change was so sudden that Rebecca almost covered her ears, as If that would stop the song. Now the music had a more distinct feel; before it was more of a drowsy song, but now it was filled with energy. Not angry, but just excited. The type of song that made people want to get up and _do_ something. Why was she just sitting around? There was so much to do today!  
As if they were moving by their own accord, her arms propped herself up and her lets brought her downstairs. Every part of her body was tensed up, ready to move at the slightest command. Rebecca had to force herself to think rationally, slowly getting herself dressed and eating breakfast. At last, she could not bear it any longer with the music pounding in her head. So she wrote her dad a quick note, grabbed the car keys and rushed out the door, leaving a half-eaten bowl of cereal on the table behind her.

As soon as she was in the car, she sped away. Now that she was moving, the song changed yet again. Now it became even more insistent, yet it also seemed like it was leading her somewhere. The feeling was completely irrational and irresistible at the same time. Not once did she question the fact there was music in her head, music that didn't seem to be coming from anywhere. She only followed the call of the song, going where her instincts led her and not looking back.

It wasn't long before the melody died down, as all things must. With the music gone, the irrational urges stopped as well and she finally looked around to see where she was. The song had led her to a secluded alleyway in the middle of Cardiff. Rebecca knew for certain that she had never been there before in her life, yet the place felt familiar. It felt like… home. As she realized this, the music faded away into nothingness, leaving Rebecca in the car with only silence to keep her company.

Now that she didn't have the song guiding her actions, she started to see things more rationally. Rebecca felt incredibly stupid and childish for following a song, a song that came from her mind no less, to a random alleyway where she had never been before. She chastised herself for leaving her dad so early in the morning, leaving only a vague not to assure him she was alright. _I should head home right now before he wakes up and starts worrying about me,_ She thought. _I don't want to give him a scare._

So she put the key back in the ignition and turned it, starting the car once more. After a sputter and a sigh, it started back up again, almost hesitantly. She was about to speed away back to her house, wherever it was, when curiosity drew her eyes forward to the end of the alleyway.

And her heart soared.

For at the end of that alleyway, some little alleyway in the middle of Cardiff was a wooden blue box, about two heads taller than she was with the words 'Police Box' written on the top. Such a simple sight to see, yet it made her smile like a fool. Her thoughts ran wildly, racing faster than a swallow escaping capture. _So _this_ was why the music brought her here, because this was where the TARDIS was, and the Doctor, where she would be able to see so many new things, and—_

It took her a few moments to realize that if the police box, the TARDIS, was here in this alleyway, then it could not possibly be back in the clearing, where he promised he would be.

Her smile soon faded.

Rebecca then went through every moment between her and the Doctor, looking for something that was said that could account for this. Maybe she heard him wrong, or he had to do something important, or he just didn't like her enough to stay, or _something_, anything that could make sense to this mess. These thoughts were highly unreasonable, born out of habit rather than actual doubt.

Even to Rebecca the evidence was too clear to account for everything else. The Doctor had left her. Maybe not with malicious intent, but he still left her. Or tried to leave him, for through some miracle she was able to find him once again without being fully aware of it. Silently she thanked the music for leading her back to the TARDIS, though quickly scolded herself for thanking something that only existed in her head.

Turning the ignition once more, the car's engine stopped without complaint. Slamming the door behind her, she stalked out to the TARDIS. Quietly the music started up again, fitting her mood perfectly. She knew her anger was unfounded and more than a little unreasonable, expecting a complete stranger to keep his word. In fact, if anyone was to blame it was her having such high expectations and she was fully aware of this fact. But something about that man, who called himself the Doctor, made Rebecca trust him. Besides, she was really angry with herself for leaving her father so early in the morning on some childish instinct. Like most people, she found it much easier to take out her anger on someone else rather than herself.

When she finally reached the TARDIS, she paused, observing the surface. She was making sure that it was the real thing and not some replica. Even thought Rebecca was mad, she knew that slamming doors wouldn't get her anywhere. Taking a deep breath, she pushed on the door and sent a quick prayer to whatever gods that there were. With a faint click, the door opened and revealed the interior of the TARDIS, with the Doctor with his back to her, banging on the controls with a sledgehammer. Rebecca thought that she would be noticed in an instant, but the alien seemed too focused on beating the TARDS until it would work. Finally, growing bored with watching the Doctor abuse the poor TARDIS, Rebecca decided to say something. "Doctor?"

"Oh, hullo there," The Doctor replied and went back to hitting the controls until he realized what was going on. He turned around and took a step toward her, his voice taking on an intense quality. "How did you get in here?"

Rebecca looked unfazed at the man in front of her, but in fact was terrified at the strength of the alien. Although he looked human, and a particularly strong one at that, he could have unknown powers that she could only guess at. Suddenly she wished she had stayed home that morning. Taking yet another deep breath, she forced herself to remain strong. "I pushed open the door. How else did you think I got in here?" Her voice didn't sound as assured as she hoped it would. She strained her ears, listening for any trace of the song that gave her courage earlier. But all that her ears found was silence, and the urge to run away grew even stronger now that she didn't have any support.

"But that door was locked," He said, taking another step towards her. "The strongest aliens in the universe have tried to get through those doors, yet a little girl opens them without a thought."

She was about to object to the Doctor calling her a little girl, but instead finding something else more useful to say. "Why did you leave me?" When he didn't reply, she continued. "You said you would meet me back at the clearing yesterday. Yet you're obviously not there right now.

"How did you find me?" The Doctor countered, taking yet another step towards her. Now there were only a few feet between the man and the human, and the latter was growing more anxious.

Rebecca wouldn't be distracted from her mission so easily. "No, no. That's not how it works. You answer my question, and then I answer yours. Why didn't you keep your promise?"

It took a moment for him to answer, but at least he stopped moving towards her. When he finally did answer, his voice seemed more pained that she thought was possible. "I don't want you to get hurt." It was meant to be a simple statement, a simple answer to get Rebecca off of his back. Yet the way he said it made Rebecca realize that there was something truly special about this man, yet it comes with a price. A horrible, horrible price.

"What do you mean? The time I've spent with you so far seemed relatively safe." She asked, ignoring the feeling for foreboding that she had had just overcame her.

Now it seemed like it was the Doctor taking the deep breaths, collecting his thoughts before he answered. "Many people have compared me to fire. The closer people get the me, the more they get burned. Sometimes they even—" At this point his voice broke a little bit, revealing only the surface of the pain that he was going through. "I don't want any more people getting hurt." He finished quickly, either forgetting about or purposely avoiding concluding his previous sentence.

The deep emotion in his voice surprised Rebecca, almost preventing her from asking her next question. "What type of danger is there?"

"No, no. You already got your question, two if we're going to be exact." With another step he was right in front of her. "Now I get my two questions. How did find me? And more importantly, how did you get in here?"

"Lucky guess," She said after a moment, shrugging her shoulders. "I was going for a car ride and I found you." Even though it was a lie, for some reason she didn't want to reveal the secret of the music to him. "And I've already answered the other question; the door was practically open. All I did was walk inside."

The Doctor searched her eyes, looking for something unknown to Rebecca and took another step forward. "This isn't an order, but a request. Please, _please_," He paused here for dramatic effect, hoping that this would help get the point across. "Leave me. Just go back home and try your best to forget about me. You're too young to get caught up in all of this." He motioned around him to the time machine and then faced her again. "You'll thank me for it."

Almost before he was done speaking Rebecca was shaking her head. "No. I'm staying with you, and I'm not leaving until I get more answers. You're the only one who has even begun to make sense of my life, Doctor. I'm not giving up on that."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Rebecca. I really am. And I'm sorry about this," He said while leaning forward until their faces were almost touching. She was more than a little confused at what was happening, and the Doctor used that confusion to help him. Before she knew what was happening, she was out of the door and the door was shutting in her face. A second later the click of the lock was heard, shutting her away from the Doctor's world.

**I have found the perfect theme music for Rebecca! I don't own the song either, but I think it's absolutely perfect for her. Except for the fact that her father is not dead…yet…*cough cough*. Here's the link if you're interested. ****.com/watch?v=JgI3eSzBaHo**** Copy and paste it to your URL…it's called 'On My Father's Wings' from Quest for Camelot.**


	6. Some Things Are Worth Fighting For

Chapter Five: Some Things Are Worth Fighting For

"But what the hell happened? How did you do it?"

~Sylvia Noble, in 'The Runaway Bride'

At first all Rebecca could do was stand there like an idiot, staring at the door wondering what the heck had just happened. When the force of what it finally hit her, it struck her like a physical blow. Not only had the Doctor abandoned her after giving her his word, he also refused her to her face. For some reason it felt like the Doctor had been a lifelong friend of hers and he had stabbed her in the heart. A completely childish and irrational emotion, but today wasn't her day for rational thought.

The feeling soon passed, however, and it was soon replaced by a feeling of anger. The music didn't even need to come back to encourage her; she knew that she was going to go back in that TARDIS if it killed her to give the Doctor a piece of her mind, properly this time.

There was only the question of how.

She was _certain_ that the door was locked this time; the Doctor had seen to that. If the door was locked, then how could she get in? Doubt plagued Rebecca's mind.What was she doing, acting like a two year old? It was apparent that the Doctor didn't want her there, so why was she set bent on trying to force her way into his life? _Because he might actually give me answers,_ She thought. _He might be able to tell what the hell is wrong with me!_

Banishing the doubts from her mind, she grabbed the doorknob and pushed with all of her might, thinking that if the TARDIS wouldn't let her in then maybe she could get in by brute force. It surprised her when the door gave way quite easily, as if the TARDIS wanted her back in. The sudden change of balance almost caused her to fall down on her face, but luckily she didn't. She then looked up and expected the Doctor to be there, gaping at how she managed to get back in.

Of course he wasn't there. Where would the fun be in that?

Rebecca looked around, wondering where the Doctor could have gone. It wasn't like she had left him for more than a minute. Then she heard it; a banging noise, coming from down the stairs. As quietly as she could bear, she descended the staircase to find the Doctor underneath the consol, banging on the TARDIS with a giant sledgehammer. _Does the Doctor do this to you all of the time?_ She cringed inwardly, feeling a sudden pang of sympathy for the TARDIS. _I'm so sorry. But don't worry, I'll teach the Doctor a lesson for the both of us._

With that, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She walked over to the Doctor, who was still engrossed in 'fixing' the TARDIS, lifted her foot, and stomped on his foot as hard as she possibly could.

All that you could hear was a loud shout in some language that Rebecca couldn't quite understand. She could tell that it was some sort of curse, and not a mild one. Rebecca had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't start laughing. The hammer then slipped from his hand and fell onto his stomach, effectively knocking the wind from his lungs. At this point it took all of her willpower not to start cracking up; even so, she couldn't help but crack a smile.

The Doctor, muttering under his breath, started to crawl out from underneath the consol. On his way out he managed to hit his head on the edge, causing him to fall down again. Now Rebecca couldn't control herself; her laughter echoed throughout the TARDIS halls. Once the Doctor finally managed to stand up, he held his head gingerly and said the only thing that could describe what he was feeling at that moment; "Ow!" Which, of course, only caused Rebecca to fall into another fit of laughter.

"Don't," She managed to get out between laughs. "Don't you pretend like you didn't deserve that."

"But I didn't!" The Doctor protested. "What did I do wrong?"

"_You_ pushed me out of the door, practically threw me out!"

"_You_ broke into my TARDIS!"

"_You_," She said, pointing at the Doctor's chest. "_You_ broke your promise. You promised you would stay in the forest, but you didn't."

"_You_," The Doctor began, then tried to come up with a comeback to what she just said. When he found he couldn't, he finished his sentence the best way that he could. "are very stubborn, you know that?"

Rebecca smiled, because she knew that she had won. It might have been a small victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.

She was about to say something, when the Doctor's face contorted into a completely different emotion entirely. "Wait-wait-wait!" He said. "How did you get back in here? I was _positive_-absolutely certain-that I locked the door that time." He paused for a moment and just stared at her, as if he were trying to solve her puzzle just by looking at her. "How the hell did you do that?" He said softly, as if he were talking to himself rather than her.

"How the hell indeed?" Rebecca replied, who herself had no idea. "I thought maybe you would be able to answer that question."

The Doctor just stared at her directly in the eyes for another minute, and Rebecca just stared back, as if daring him to try to throw her out again. He then turned back to the consol, as if he was ashamed. "What do you want from me anyway, Rebecca Sterling? Why can't you just take my advice and just forget about me?"

The question took Rebecca by surprise. It took a moment to gather a slightly coherent answer. "Because, Doctor, I-I need some answers. All my life, things have been happening to me-things I can't explain. The banana disappearing, seeing things no one else does, remembering things that never happened-" She was about to go on and describe the music, but she stopped herself. She wasn't quite ready to give up that part of herself, no matter how irrational it was. "No one believes me, not even my Dad. You're the only one who has been able to supply any answers. I just want to know what's going on, that's all. Is that too much to ask?"

There was another pause at the Doctor's end. He still refused to turn around, to face the person he was talking to. "No, that's not too much to ask. It's just-" He broke off, loosing his stoic control that he had. He needed that control before he could continue. "It's just that with that knowledge comes a price. All the people I've helped-all those wonderful, wonderful people-they always end up getting hurt. Trust me, you don't want my help."  
"What if I'm willing to take that risk? I'm an adult, Doctor. I can make my own decisions. You don't have the right to make them for me." Rebecca's stubborn side wouldn't give up the issue, now that she finally found some light to illuminate the darkness in herself.

The Doctor still didn't look at her, instead choosing to look at the heart of the TARDIS. He refused to respond to her statement, perhaps knowing deep down that she was right. Or perhaps just because of the lack of things to say.

Thinking that she had won another small victory, Rebecca continued talking. "I want your help, Doctor. I know that you can give me some answers, if only a few of them-"

It was at this point the Doctor could no long contain himself. "Don't you understand, Rebecca? I've tried asking you nicely, I really have. But you've left me no choice; I've got to say it plainly. I. Don't. Want. To. Help. You." He sighed, turning back to her slowly. "I'm sure you're a very nice person, Rebecca, but you've got to understand."

Silence. Complete and utter silence, for no other words could be spoken. Never before had that though crossed her mind. Rebecca had always assumed that the Doctor at least wanted to help her, and the only reason he wouldn't was because he was worried about her getting hurt. All of that being a ruse-it caught her completely off guard. A numb, dead feeling coursed through her body, a relieving feeling that allowed her emotions to die down enough so that she could talk.

"I-I understand, Doctor," Rebecca said. Her voice trembled slightly and she started to back away. "I'm really sorry for bothering you so much." All the stubbornness, the fire that kept her arguing with the Doctor was gone. Only a dull spark remained.

The Doctor's smile was kind, like it was for a small child he was comforting. "I'm sorry too, Rebecca. I didn't mean for it to end this way."

"I know..." Rebecca said. "I guess this is... goodbye." She continued backing away until she reached the stairs. Her face began to redden as a trickle of emotions came through.

"Goodbye, Rebecca Sterling." The Doctor said, as stoically as he could. What Rebecca didn't know is that he too was fighting to contain his emotions.

Rebecca then ran up the stairs. She didn't want to be in his way anymore. No longer did she want the Doctor's help; all she wanted was to get out of the TARDIS and out of his life.

So she did. The doors slammed shut behind her, its sound echoing throughout the TARDIS.

The Doctor then dropped his guise, and let his emotions show full on his face. He covered his face with his hand and shook his head slightly. He knew that he had to turn Rebecca away for her own safety. Then why was there still a bitter taste in his mouth?

He started to work again on the TARDIS, this time with a slightly heavy heart. He started to do what he always did when he needed to think; talk to himself. "Why can't she just understand that I'm trying to protect her? She doesn't know what happens to people when I try to help them." He then sighed, a deep sigh that bore the weight of over 900 years of memories. "I promised myself that I would never take another companion..."

His voice trailed off as another sound could be heard, one that wasn't one of the normal sounds heard in the TARDIS.

A scream.


	7. Lizards and Things

Chapter Six: Lizards and Things

"River Song: How could we not notice that?

The Doctor: Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."

~River Song and the Doctor, Time of Angels

In the Doctor's 900+ years of living, never before had he been able to resist the sound of a distant scream. This time was no exception to the rule. More on instinct than anything else, he broke into a full-out sprint towards the sound of the noise; the exterior of the TARDIS. Before the Doctor could even reach the door, the screaming was cut off, like the source of the scream was snatched right then in there. Luckily for the Doctor, by the time the Doctor opened the door Rebecca was still there and suffered no visible wounds.

"What's the matter-" The Doctor started before Rebecca pointed a shaky hand down the ally-way. His gaze shifted to where she was pointing and saw something that only the Doctor could be responsible; an alien. Four aliens, to be exact. Four real, proper aliens. The sunlight glinted off of their scaly green skin as they searched throughout the ally-way. As they lifted boxes and looked in trashcans, they showed no sign of ever hearing Rebecca's short lived scream.

"They're-they're-but they're _lizards_!" Rebecca stuttered out, her mind spinning from the sight that she was seeing. At least the Doctor could pass for a human, even if he did act more than a little odd. But these- these were real, proper aliens.

"Not lizards _exactly_," The Doctor said, acting much different than he was just a minute ago. "They're called _homo reptilia_, Silurans, if you will."

"Whatever they are, they don't belong on Earth," Rebecca said. "Where did they come from?"

"Actually, technically they were here long before humans were, they just took a nice long nap under the Earth's surface." The Doctor said defensively, as if she were insulting his own race. "To them you're the aliens."

Rebecca obviously hadn't thought of this possibility. "Okay, so if they were sleeping under the Earth, what caused them to wake up? And why are they up here, on the surface?"

The Doctor turned to face her, looking slightly amused at the situation. "That's the question, now isn't it? They're not supposed to come up on the surface for another ten or so years… Well, there's only one way to find out!" Cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify the sound, he started to yell. "Oi! Over here! There are some humans over here, if that's what you're looking for. We surrender!" The four lizard people looked over to see two humans in a dead end, and they strode right over. They pointed their guns at the Doctor and Rebecca, as if they actually were thinking of escaping. "We surrender!" The Doctor said once again.

If possible, Rebecca's expression grew even more frightful. Her voice was hushed and urgent. "Doctor, what the hell are you doing?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Believe it or not I've handled tons of situations like this the same way, and nothing bad's happened yet." The four Silurans stood up rigidly and made their way over to the Doctor and Rebecca, each brandishing equally dangerous-looking guns.

"Somehow that doesn't really make me feel any better," Rebecca muttered, taking a step back behind the Doctor.

Before the Doctor could comfort her any further, the Silurans were right in front of them, lined up by height. The first and tallest one spoke in a deep baritone. "We don't accept pleas of surrender. We have a strict mission to eliminate every stinking ape from the surface of this planet. Prepare to die." They all prepared to shoot in perfect unison, better than any army on the surface of Earth.

"Wait, wait, _wait_!" The Doctor said. The voice of the Time Lord stayed the hand of the Silurans. All four of them had a blank look spread across their face. "Don't shoot us, not yet. We understand that you're superior to us and have no reason to answer our questions, but I'm curious. What are you doing here? Why here, and not anywhere else?"

This time the second one, a little shorter than the first one, answered. "We have come to eliminate every stinking ape from the surface of this planet."

"I got that already," The Doctor said, a little impatient. "But _why_? Why are you doing this?"

All four of them looked confused, as if they weren't sure how to answer the question. They looked at each other, asking each other with their eyes if they could answer. Finally, the third one spoke. "We have come to eliminate every stinking ape from the surface of this planet." It was at this moment that the third one made eye contact with Rebecca, its eyes staring right into hers. Suddenly all four of them were enveloped with a dark light, black as night and yet somehow it was still a light. It glowed brighter and brighter, or rather darker and darker, until she was forced to close her eyes.

Seconds later she opened them again, seeing something completely bizarre in their place. They were little dome shaped robots, exactly like the ones from _Star Wars_ that her dad made her watch when she was younger. The light was gone and the harsh sunlight reflected off of their metal body, leaving Rebecca to think that they weren't a hoax, that they were real, genuine robots, exactly like the ones from _Star Wars_. She had the strangest feeling that the Silurans didn't have the ability to transform into robots at will. And by the expression on the Doctor's face, it was apparent that he didn't know that anything was wrong.

Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the robots were gone, replaced with the homo-reptilia. The Doctor was deep in conversation with one of them, his tone urgent, but her mind couldn't focus on the words that were being shared. She was still trying to wrap her head around what just happened and whether she was going to share it with the Doctor. It wasn't long before she decided that it was something that she couldn't afford to keep from him. "Doctor?" She whispered frantically. When there was no answer, she spoke louder. "Doctor? I need to speak with you about something."

"Not now, Rebecca, I'm busy," He told her without even looking at her. When he started talking again she pulled him into the TARDIS and slammed the door. "What did you do that for?" He demanded, trying to get past her to get to the door. She wouldn't budge. "I need to get back out there! I was doing something very important, more important that you can even imagine."

"Listen to me! There's something not right-" She tried to say, but he interrupted her.

"I was trying to talk with them, trying to figure what they're doing here," the Doctor said. "I know there isn't something right, and that's what I'm trying to fix."

"You don't understand!" Rebecca said, exasperated. "Have the homo- whatever they are actually answered any of your questions?"

Despite the Doctor's insistence that there was nothing out of the ordinary- or at least, not more out of the ordinary that was normal for the Doctor- he couldn't help but admit to this. "Well, no, not really, but I was just getting there! If you hadn't pulled me in here-"

Rebecca didn't even let him finish. "That's because they_ can't _answer the questions! They're not living, breathing creatures-they're robots! I saw it with my own eyes."

"Now, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, even coming from a human. "Rebecca, I've seen them before. I know that this is a lot for you, and you won't have to deal with any of this ever again after this. But trust me when I say that they're not robots; they're living and breathing creatures. They're just creatures you've never seen before."

"They are robots, I'm _sure_ of it! Why don't you believe me?"

Like always when she got frustrated, Rebecca's voice became higher pitched and the words sounded almost shrill. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and bring her voice back down to normal levels. "Didn't you say that your sonic screwdriver can disable some technology? Well, why don't you use it against the homo-reptilia? If they're robots, they'll short circuit or whatever robots do. If they're not robots, than it won't affect them at all. Either way, it's a safe bet."

"But then they'll realize we have alien technology, and that'll give us even more problems!" He exclaimed, apparently having lost his patience with Rebecca's 'lowly human brain'. "Rebecca, I know what you think you saw must have seen very real to you." At this point she was shaking her head, knowing what he was trying to say. "But I've been doing this much longer than you have, and I am 100 percent positive that they're homo-reptilia, not the robots you think they are. You know what, why don't you stay in here while I take care of the Silurans? It'll probably be safer…." He made no mention at the fact that he didn't want her out with him, but that went without speaking.

"No, I'm staying out there with you," Rebecca said, quickly formulating a plan in her mind. "Someone has to be there to say 'I told you so' when you're proven wrong." She couldn't help but notice the fact that he was so certain that they were not robots when in fact he had not seen any evidence to prove that they were real homo-reptilia. Rebecca attributed this to his pig-headed stubbornness.

The Doctor smiled suddenly, a small little smile that Rebecca could not quite interpret. "Whatever floats your boat, Princess," He said, then paused. "Another phrase to add to the list of 'Things I Will Never Say Again'. Anyway, can you let me through now?"

Rebecca stepped away from the door, seeing no options other than to let the Doctor through. He gave her a look of great sympathy, just like someone would give a mentally unstable person in the hospital, only making her feel worse. The Doctor opened the door and took a step back outside, Rebecca right at his heels.

As soon as he was out the door, the Doctor quickly began to apologize to the homo-reptilia that they left, completely ignoring the fact that they hadn't moved a muscle while they were gone. Realizing that her time was running short, Rebecca's mind went into overdrive trying to finalize her plan to prove the Doctor wrong. Oh, and probably save the lives of quite a few people in Cardiff.

Her eyes fell to on of the Doctor's pockets, where the unmistakable bulge of the sonic screwdriver sat. _It's now or never, _She told herself as she was debating whether to take it slow or fast. Leaving no time to doubt herself, Rebecca's hand reached into his pocket and grabbed it. The Doctor turned to face her, his mouth taking the shape of an 'o'. Before he could understand what was going on enough to be able to do anything about it, she pushed the button and pointed it at the four lizard people.

At first, nothing happened and Rebecca trembled with fear that she was wrong, and this could be the start of a war. But slowly, the lizard people started to twitch in a very robotic manner, making all sort of beeping and whirling sounds. It was at this point that the Doctor regained his mental clarity and realized what trick he had fallen for. Within seconds the four of the lizard people shrunk, their figures changing in proportion that would be gross to most people. Rebecca couldn't help but look away, while the true alien looked on with fascination, as he did with most things. When she looked back, instead of four homo-reptilians there were four robots that looked like massive beetles with bulky legs and thin antennae that resembled telephone towers, only on a much smaller scale.

The two humanoid figures stood staring at the inactive robots, the man looking on with fascination, while the girl gazing with pure trepidation. They said nothing, the tension clouding the air almost like something real, making the space between them seem much farther apart than it actually was. Finally, breaking the fierce silence between them, the Doctor picked up a nearby stick and poked the nearest beetle. When it didn't move, he repeated the process until he was sure that all four robots were safely deactivated with no chance of coming back to life on their own. He held out his hand to Rebecca and she automatically returned the screwdriver to him.

Just when she was about to say something, the Doctor spoke without even looking at her. "I can't believe that they could get past my defences. I mean, I'm a Time Lord for crying out loud! Getting fooled by a simple perception filter like any old human, it's positively humiliating." He then he shifted his gaze towards her. "Like most humans, I mean. Apparently you're not like most humans."

Rebecca just nodded, knowing that's what he expected her to do. Suddenly she didn't want to tell him that she didn't see the actual robots, just some stupid R2-D2s. He was giving a compliment in his Doctorish way, and she didn't want to do anything that might diminish that. "Yeah, I suppose I'm not like most humans you've met."

He stood staring at the beetles a little more, something obviously troubling him. She was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly perked up, a small smile on his face. "Let's go hunt some robots! They're bound to be some more where those came from, wrecking havoc in town. Maybe then we can figure up what they're up to, other than exterminating the human race." He turned around and started heading away from the TARDIS and towards the street.


	8. More Than Just Car Troubles

Chapter Seven: More than Just Car Troubles

"You are completely impossible!"

~Donna Noble, the Doctor's Daughter

Rebecca felt the urge to run off after him, which she expected was exactly what the Doctor wanted her to do. So she ignored that urge, because she was still angry with the Doctor. "So I was right, wasn't I?" Rebecca said slowly, not budging from her spot.

"Yes, you were right," The Doctor said, turning around. "I was wrong, I know I know. But we don't have time for that right now, because we need to-"

"What makes you think that I'm going anywhere with you?" Rebecca said, still standing her ground."_You _said that you didn't want to help me. _You _threw me out of the TARDIS, and now _you _want _my _help. I don't think so. I'm going home."

"But you might be the only one who can help me!" The Doctor said, obviously not used to have to convince people to help him."They could be anything. They're shape shifters, with strong perception filters to boot. Someone wants everything to think that they're homo-reptilians, even people with brains as strong as mine. I need you to identify any more, non-reptilian robots roaming the streets, so I can deactivate them too."

"Oh, so that's how it is. When I need your help, you're _far _too busy with your important matters to help me. But when you need help, I'm the bad guy for not helping you." She shot back.

"Yes. That's exactly how it is." At Rebecca's intensified glare, he knew that he didn't say the right thing. The Doctor looked like he was about to say something else, but luckily he held his tongue. He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "I'll make you a deal. You help me search Cardiff for more of these robots, and I promise that I'll help you figure out... whatever you need figuring out."

"Like you promised you would meet me in the forest today?" Rebecca said, glaring at him.

"Look, I said I was sorry about that-"

"No, you didn't."

"I didn't what?"

"You didn't say you were sorry," Rebecca pointed out. "Not once did you apologize to me."

The Doctor gave her the most exasperated look he could possibly muster. "Fine. I'm sorry for refusing to help you. Now can you _please _help me look for more robots?"

Rebecca still didn't move."You also didn't apologize to me for not believing me when I told you that the lizard people would actual robots."

"Are we going to do this all day? Innocent people might be in danger while we're just standing here talking!" The Doctor insisted.

"I don't _have _to help you, you know. Just like you didn't have to help me when I needed help."

The Doctor stared at her for a few moments, probably trying to discern whether it was worth getting her help. "You're impossible, you know that? Are you going to help me or not?"

Rebecca knew that helping the Doctor was the right thing to do, and on a normal day she would have done what was right. But today she was still trying to stay childishly mad at the Doctor. "...fine." Rebecca said finally, after what felt like hours of hesitation. "I'll help you. But know this; I'm helping you only because there are innocent people in danger. Not because you asked me to, and definitely not because I owe you anything. You understand me?"

"Loud and clear, Miss Sterling," The Doctor said, probably just to infuriate her. "Now come on, we're burning daylight." He started to run off down the ally-way at full speed.

"Wait!" Rebecca said. She wasn't expecting the Doctor to run off like that. The Doctor spun around to face her, giving her a look that clearly said _what does she want now?_"Why don't we just take my car?"

"Why? What's wrong with running?" The Doctor protested.

"Nothing, I just thought that taking my car would be easier than running all over the place. And faster."

"You know what? Fine. We'll take your car. Lead the way." The Doctor said.

Rebecca walked up the ally-way, taking her time to reach her car. The Doctor followed behind her, wishing that there was something he could do to make her go faster. When she reached the car, she unlocked it and got in the driver's seat. The Doctor followed suit and sat down in the passenger's seat, looking more and more impatient by the second. She put her key into the ignition and turned it, expecting the car to gear into motion.

Nothing. Frustrated, she tried again.

Still nothing.

"You've _got _to be kidding me..."


	9. Bicycle Built for Two

Chapter Eight: A Bicycle Built For Two

"Eddie Connolly: I am talking!

The Doctor: AND I'M NOT LISTENING!"

~Eddie Connolly and the Doctor (10), The Idiots Lantern

"What?" The Doctor asked, slightly concerned. "What's wrong?"

"The battery must be shot," Rebecca replied, sighing. She attempted to turn the key one more time, and still nothing happened. "The car won't start. The car's an old thing, but it's never given us trouble before…"

"So I guess we're going on foot then?" The Doctor said, not quite as disappointed as Rebecca was. In fact, it was almost as if he was glad that they weren't using a car.

But Rebecca wouldn't give up. "Not yet we're not. It's probably only a small problem, something that we can easily fix. I'll go check the trunk." With that she opened the door to the car and got out. Knowing that she probably didn't know much about cars, the Doctor did the same. She made her way to the back of the car and popped open the truck. Black smoke filled her lungs and she couldn't help but let out a cough. Apparently Time Lords didn't have a special immunity to smoke because the Doctor was coughing as well.

Even waving the smoke away from their face, it was a minute before either of them could stop coughing long enough to talk. "I guess we're walking," Rebecca admitted grudgingly when she could finally speak. "I wonder what happened to the car… nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Perhaps our robot friends go to your car while we were in the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "Maybe they didn't want you to be able to run away if you got out of their grasp."

Rebecca looked at him directly in the eyes, as if she was looking to see if he was being sincere. "You really think that this was done intentionally?"

"I think that it is a possibility," The Doctor corrected himself. "You know how reliable Earth technology is; it can be working perfectly fine one minute and then malfunction the next."

"Oh, so alien technology _always _malfunctions whenever a human touches, right?" Rebecca replied slyly.

The Doctor didn't even reward that remark with a response. "Anyway, we should probably get going now. We don't want the robots to get out of Cardiff if they haven't already."

With that they broke off running out of the ally-way, ready to face anything. But then Rebecca stopped suddenly, eyeing something casually discarded on the ground. "Doctor, I have an idea."

"Oh no we're not," The Doctor replied instantly. "Absolutely not."

"Come on, Doctor! Please?" Rebecca insisted, looking at him with classic puppy dog eyes. "It'll be faster than walking."

"But they're hardly enough room for one of us, much less both of us!" The Doctor said.

"We'll make it work," Rebecca brushed off his concerned with the wave of her hand. "Come on, you know you want to."

With that the Doctor gave in with a sigh. "Fine."

Okay, so it wasn't a bicycle built for two. But they still made it work by having the Doctor pedal and Rebecca ride on the handlebars. There was an immediate problem with the situation "I can't see!" The Doctor exclaimed after pedalling for a few seconds. "You're going to have to tell me what direction to go."

"Oh, o-okay. You need to turn left." Rebecca said a bit shakily.

"When?" The Doctor replied.

"Now! Turn left NOW!"

The Doctor turned left, narrowly avoiding a lamppost. "You're going to have to be a little quicker with those directions."

"Well I'm sorry that I've never done this- right!"

"What?"

"Turn right! I said turn RIGHT!"

That was how they spent their first 'date', so to speak; Rebecca shouting instructions to the Doctor and the Doctor carrying them out, if just barely. Even though the situation was a little bit stressful, Rebecca was actually enjoying herself quite a bit. . She was about to say so too, but interrupting her were high pitched screams of little girls, and the Doctor set off faster than ever in that direction.

When they arrived, instead of seeing little girls they saw a gang of boys about 17, screaming like little girls. If the situation was different, Rebecca would have laughed at their behaviour, but instead tried to focus her power on the lizard people. The Doctor glanced at her, and when she gave a quick nod he pressed a button and with a buzz, the lizards shrank back into robots. The boys tried to thank them, but before the boys recovered from the weirdness of it, Rebecca and the Doctor had vanished, following the sound of screams farther away.

As they travelled the streets, Rebecca couldn't help but worry that there were human robots that they she was missing, wreaking havoc on the city and it was her fault for not seeing them. But there was nothing she could do about that; all she could do was help the Doctor as best as she could. And so far there were no robots out there other than the lizards, which were easily deactivated with the help of the sonic screwdriver.

All and all, things everything was going rather smoothly. It made The Doctor wonder if the universe had finally taken pity on him, or if something was going to go horribly wrong later, despite his efforts to prevent that. He didn't want to tell Rebecca that plans tend to not go as planned, for the same reasons that many humans keep secrets from each other. It made him wonder somewhat if being around humans for so long had rubbed off of him. With a shake of his head the thoughts banished from his mind, a trick that he had learned long ago.

Almost as if the Doctor planned it himself, trouble was just around the corner. Literally, around the corner of Pauper Street there were more lizard people rough housing a family of five, two parents and three children. The Doctor could just barely make out what a frightened husband was saying over the wails of the newborn in the mother's arms.

"I d-don't know wh-what you're talking a-about." He stuttered. "We d-didn't send any r-robots down do attack y-you guys. At l-least, not that I k-know of. P-please don't hurt u-us. We didn't d-do a-anything to h-hurt you guys. W-we'll do anything you ask. J-just l-let us g-go." It would have been quite an impressive speech, if he wasn't stuttering the whole time. But the lizard person, apparently the leader of the little squad, just snarled mercilessly. All four of the human family, even the newborn, shuddered as they were all blasted into smithereens. The leader barked some commands in a raspy voice and they set off, her in the lead. Rebecca and the Doctor watched the scene with helpless horror, having come far too late to be able to do anything. Suddenly an odd look came across Rebecca's face, and she concentrated more. "Doctor?" She whispered to him, not wanting to be heard by the lizards.

"Not now, Rebecca," The Doctor replied, his eyes fierce. His whole demeanour had changed, and he was no longer recognizable to Rebecca. "It ends now. I _refuse_ to let any more innocent lives being ended by someone's twisted idea of a joke." Without giving a chance for her to follow him, he ran forward, sonic screwdriver in hand. "Oi! You up there, you lizard people! Stop right where you are or I'll deactivate you instantly!" Reacting to his voice, the band up ahead stopped in its tracks and turned around. "That's right, stop right there. Don't move a muscle, or you'll be deactivated for good!"

Even though the figures were far away, the leader unmistakably smiled. Then, without hesitating, they started walking towards the Doctor. Rebecca ran up to his side, pulling on his sleeve. "Doctor, there's something important that I need to-"

"I'm busy right now, Rebecca," The Doctor said, brushing her off. He then turned his attention back to the figures that were approaching. "I told you, don't move any closer! No need to pretend; I can deactivate you with the press of a button!"

The leader hissed with laughter, pausing momentarily in her group's marching. Unlike the other robots, her scaled face was covered with a ferocious looking mask. In fact, all of the lizard people were wearing the same mask, making it very hard to tell the difference between them. The only way that the leader looked any different was the way she walked. By the very it she held herself it was obvious that she was in charge. "Ah, the stupidity of the apes surprises me, even to this day. Do you think that you could deactivate us? Like we're some sort of robot? _Ha!_" She snorted. "Like you even have the technology to do that, even if we were androids. Your pathetic species makes me laugh!" The whole band started to chortle with laughter, following their leader's lead

"Oh yeah?" The Doctor said, holding out his screwdriver. "Well, you'll find I'm full of surprises." And with that he pressed the button and the sonic screwdriver started to buzz, just as before.

For a moment nothing happened, but he had gotten used to that from the other transformations. But as a few more moments passed and nothing happening, he tried using it again. Again, nothing happened. He tried every setting that could possibly work, some of those that couldn't work, and even hit the metallic body more than a few times, yet nothing happened. All the while, the homo-reptilian's laughter grew louder and louder.

"But… but…" The Doctor stuttered, for the first time speechless. He stared at his screwdriver, then at the lizards, then at his screwdriver again.

"I was trying to tell you," Rebecca told him, trying desperately to get the '_I told you so_' tone out her voice. "That they were not robots. They are the real deal; genuine, bona fide homo-reptilians."

He shook his head, laughing at himself for making a stupid mistake for the second time in one day. But Rebecca couldn't save him this time. "Oh. That makes sense. Can't deactivate a living being, can you?" He strained to keep his voice light, yet it was utterly impossible.

"Are you quite done?" A raspy voice said with a more than a little impatience. Both of them turned around to face the leader. "Now, although I would _love_ to take your pathetic life right now, duty must come first. Last time I checked, you apes were too primitive to have sonic devices yet. So, I have to ask; how did you get it?" She motioned to the screwdriver in his hand.

"Oh, this thing?" He asked, lifting the screwdriver. "Well, I would love to tell you, but I'm afraid that it's a bit of a secret. Of course, I might be willing to speak with your leader…."

It took a few seconds for the female to answer, more than enough time to make the Doctor know that she was lying. "What are you talking about? I'm the leader of my tribe."

"No, you're not," The Doctor said. "I've been to your city before and had a nice chat with your leader. Eldane, I think his name was. A very nice fellow, you should listen to him more often." He then paused and caught his mistake. "I wasn't supposed to say that, was I?"

Shock quickly spread about the little group as they looked at one another. "How could you have met Eldane? No ape has ever been to our city before; it's utterly impossible." The leader finally said, regaining her composure a little bit.

"Well, I have!" The Doctor said cheerfully. "Who knows, you may have slept through it." He then winked at the Silurans, as if they were sharing a private joke. Even though each and every one of the homo-reptilians knew what he was talking about, Rebecca hadn't a clue.

"We'll have to bring you to Eldane to make sure," The leader growled, clearly uncomfortable with bringing an outsider to their secret hideaway. "You'll have to give us all of your weapons, and there will be no primitive trickery from you, understood."

"I don't have any weapons," He replied. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. I don't carry weapons."

"Oh, really?" The leader held out her hand. "And your sonic device doesn't count as a weapon?"

"No, it doesn't," The Doctor replied. "And I think I'll be keeping it, if you don't mind. I don't know what you're going to do with it."

"Give it up, 'Doctor', or," The leader said, grabbing Rebecca roughly by the arm. "Or the female gets it." Rebecca fought back as best as she could, trying to fight the homo reptilia's grip. These actions were rewarded by the leader's claws digging in her skin. A sharp cry of pain escaped her lips against her will.

The Doctor looked sadly at Rebecca for a moment, then handed the sonic screwdriver to the leader. "I'll go with you, but let her go. She has absolutely no idea what's going on."

"The female may not know what's going on, but I think I'll bring her anyways," The leader replied, not letting go of Rebecca. "She'll be what we call 'insurance'." The leader then barked a few orders to the surrounding Silurans and two of them grabbed the Doctor by the arms roughly, making sure that he would trying anything. The leader let go of Rebecca only to have another one of the homo reptilia take her place, also grabbing her arm tightly.

"If either of you try anything, I promise you will have the most painful death possible, starting with the death of your mate," The leader promised them.

"No, no, we're not-" Rebecca began.

"Definitely, we're definitely not-" The Doctor continued.

"Together, not at all-"

"Nor will we ever be-"

"Like that, not in my lifetime."

"Or mine!" The Doctor added, effectively ending all debate.

"If you think I care about the feelings of you _apes_, then you are sorely mistaken," The leader said after they were done. "All that I care about is if you try anything stupid. Because if you do, the other dies. Understood?" Both Rebecca and the Doctor nodded. "Good." She turned to the rest of her crew. "Forward, march!"

With that, the whole band started marching in unison, heading towards the outskirts of the city. "Rebecca," The Doctor said, trying his best to face his companion. "I'm really sorry about getting into this mess, especially with you here. I must be losing my touch, falling for something as stupid as a perception filter and now this."

"Well you should be sorry," Rebecca said, gritting her teeth. "You did mention danger earlier, but I didn't think that it would be quite like this."

The Doctor managed a smile, but the emotion didn't stretch farther. In his eyes reflected an emotion that Rebecca knew she only scratched the surface of. "Trust me, this is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've seen."

Neither of them said anything else, content to leave each other with their own thoughts. Rebecca couldn't tell what the Doctor was thinking; his thoughts were shielded from her, as they always were. Oddly enough, she herself was thinking of her Dad. The one day that she decides to leave him, something actually happens. Her mouth twitched a bit into what was supposed to be a smile at the irony. She hoped that he was okay, untouched by the lizard people. Even though she was probably in a worse situation, she knew that at least she had the Doctor. It bugged her a little bit that the Doctor being there comforted her a little bit; she was still trying to stay mad at him.

It was a good fifteen minutes of continuous marching then they arrived at a little field, totally abandoned of everything except pink and purple flowers. It seemed like an odd place to but a secret layer, but Rebecca remembered that their entire civilization was underground. For all they knew there could be a huge city right under their feet. The group headed for a patch of strange looking dirt and stopped. Suddenly, a few of the lizards stepped into it and they sunk suddenly into the ground, as if it ate them. "Doctor?" Rebecca whispered, suddenly terrified. "Doctor, what is that?"

"Don't worry," He whispered back, sounding calm. "It's just how they get to and from their home. They live underground, many miles under the crust. That's how they get there." Rebecca had known that their base was underground, but for some reason that hadn't registered. Childhood nightmares of suffocating, dirt filling her lungs and preventing her from taking any breaths, came back to her in an instant.

The Doctor could tell that there was something wrong with her, but he didn't have any time for further encouragement, for the leader of the group said "In you go, apes. Be the first primitive species allowed in our great city. Step in." The homo-reptilians that were holding their arms suddenly pushed them forward, and they almost landed in the pit.. "Come on, we haven't go all day!" The leader snarled, getting impatient.

What the leader didn't notice, or didn't care to notice, was that Rebecca was shaking uncontrollably. Rebecca couldn't make her legs do as she commanded, even though she desperately wanted to do as the leader told them. Just as she about to run away from the homo-reptilians, the pit, and the Doctor and take her chances, a strong hand gripped hers. Tears in her eyes, she looked up to find the Doctor smiling at her. "You'll be fine, Rebecca" He said softly, comfortingly. "I'll be right here the whole time."

Rebecca hesitated for moment before nodded. "Th-thanks, Doctor."

"We'll go on three, okay?" The Doctor asked, his eyes searching hers. Although she was far from being ready, she nodded her head again. Then she wiped the tears in her eyes and held her head high.

"One," Rebecca said, her voice shaking.

"Two," The Doctor said behind her, his strong voice helping calm Rebecca down."

"Three!" Rebecca exclaimed with as little hesitation as she could bear.

"Geronimo!"

With that they, still holding hands, stepped into the dark sand and Rebecca felt herself sinking.


	10. A Sinking Feeling

Chapter Nine: A Sinking Feeling

"But however hard you try you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies and nobody knows it like the Doctor."

River Song, the Forest of the Dead

For a fleeting moment Rebecca was sure that the Doctor was wrong, that she wasn't on a transporter but actually a way to kill particularly stubborn prisoners. Her mouth forced itself shut and her eyes slammed closed, as if that would save her from suffocating. She could hear the drumming of her heartbeat in her ears as her mind ran through every single possible way that she could die down here. Instead of focusing on the dirt pressing around her, she tried to turn her thoughts to the Doctor's hand in hers, which she was squeezing tightly. It was a much more pleasant thought.

It took Rebecca a few moments to realize that she didn't feel any dirt pressing around her, and the Doctor seemed to be breathing perfectly fine. At last when her body forced her to breathe, she squeezed her eyes even tighter, waiting for the dirt to fill her lungs. When the dirt didn't come, she wondered if her body was did her an unexpected favour and she died before she even took a breath of the dirt. But no, she was still holding the Doctor's hand, and unless he died as well she was still alive and breathing.

Finally Rebecca's curiosity got the better of her fear and she decided it was time to open her eyes. Her entire body was shaking, and her eyes refused to open. Her natural instincts wouldn't let her, telling her to protect her eyes. A good minute had passed and she wasn't dead yet, so why did she feel so afraid?

Before she knew what was happening, her eyes flew open as if they weren't hers to control. Her entire vision consisted of dirt, dirt, rocks, a random fossil, and more dirt. Her pulse quickened to a dangerous level and her breaths turned into gasps. All of her childhood nightmares came back to her in this moment, being buried alive and trapped, alone, in a box with no escape. But she wasn't alone, she realized. She was with the Doctor, and he was right next to her, holding her hand. And she was breathing perfectly fine, not one speck of dirt entering her lungs. Even so, all she wanted to do was close her eyes and shut out it all out, but her eyes wouldn't let her. She was safe. She was with the Doctor.

It was still another minute before Rebecca could get her breathing under reasonable control, using her very force of will to control her childish fears. Once she finally managed to, she realized that the Doctor was staring at her the whole time, which caused her face to turn a bright red. "What are you looking at?" She demanded, her voice a lot sharper than she intended.

"Nothing," The Doctor said, looking away. "Nothing at all."

Rebecca was more than a little bit ashamed at the way she snapped at the Doctor. "…sorry, didn't mean to snap at you…" She apologized slowly, still holding onto his hand. "I guess I'm still a little shaken up…"

"No worries," The Doctor said, smiling a bit. He shifted his position a little bit to be more comfortable, and it was then that she realized just how much room was in this transporter pod, and why only one person was supposed to be in there. It was cosy to say the least.

"How are we alive, anyways?" Rebecca asked. "I mean, we are going miles underneath the surface of the Earth."

"Anti-gravity bubbles and an oxygen tank," The Doctor said, smiling even wider at her question. "Basically, we're sinking through the earth in a bubble. A super-strong anti-gravity bubble."

"Wow," Was all Rebecca could say. "That's… amazing." Even though just seconds before she was terrified at what was happening, she was suddenly filled with awe. Did the Doctor get to see things like this all of the time? She envied him a little bit, but not too much. She was still in awe.

"Yes, it is very interesting," The Doctor said. "It's certainly a very interesting to see the inside of the Earth."

Rebecca turned more towards the dirt on the outside, watching as it rushed by her line of sight. Now that she knew that the dirt would not fill her lungs and kill her, it was actually very relaxing looking at the various things she found in the dirt. She allowed her thoughts to drift, wandering to other places and other times.

She was far lost in her thoughts when she felt a small object come in contact with the side of her head, causing a sharp short-lived burst of pain. "Ow!" She exclaimed, then looked down to see what had hit her. A one-pence sat fell to the ground, the source of her pain. "What was that for?"

"It's a penny," The Doctor said, as if that explained anything.

"So?" Rebecca said, glaring at him.

"A penny for your thoughts," The Doctor explained, then smiled as if it were the funniest thing in the world. "I know it's a bit cliché, but I was curious. What's on your mind?"

Rebecca glared at him for another moment, completely taken by surprise by the question. Since when did he want to know what she was thinking? Sighing, she decided to let him in on what she was thinking about. "I just don't get it."

"Don't get what?" The Doctor asked.

"You," Rebecca said simply. "When I first met you, you ran away from me as soon as I saw you telling me to forget about you. Then, fourteen years later, you seem to want to help me. Or, at least you seemed interested at why I remembered bananas. And then you leave me again! You seemed like you didn't want me in your life at all, and you threw me out of the TARDIS. Now you're acting like nothing ever happened. It just… it just doesn't make sense."

"…you're right, it doesn't make sense," The Doctor said. "It wouldn't to you, or anyone else. You're not the first, you know. There's been others that I've met… the most wonderful of people, so curious… and so naïve. They never understood the dangers that travelling with me could bring… not until it's too late. I just wanted to end the cycle now… I wanted to make sure that no one else was dragged into danger." He smiled a little bit, as if he were forcing himself to lighten the mood. "But I suppose it's a bit too late for that, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah," Rebecca said, caught a little off guard. He did mention this before, but she thought it was just a ruse to get her out of the TARDIS. "I suppose it is. But you can't blame yourself for that. I mean, it wasn't as if you didn't try to keep me away. It was my choice."

"But I'm still responsible," The Doctor replied. "If I tried harder, maybe..." He was about to go on, but obviously thought better of it. "But it's no use going on about it. Does it make a little bit more sense now?"

Rebecca nodded, not knowing what he wanted her to say. "I did have another question, though. If you wanted to leave me when you were there in the forest, why didn't you just go to a completely different galaxy or something? You said that your TARDIS can go anywhere in time and space, so why did you stay here?"

The Doctor smiled a little bit, as if he were amused by the question. "I was wondering if you were going to ask that question. The thing is, I _can't _go anywhere eelse."

"You _can't_?" Rebecca asked."Why not? Don't tell me that there are _rules _to time travel."

"No, it isn't rules that are keeping me here," He clarified. "It's just that for some reason, the TARDIS won't take me anywhere else. Trust me, I've been trying. That's why you saw me working on the TARDIS earlier; I was trying to figure out what's wrong. This isn't the first time that the TARDIS has been a little...temperamental."

Rebecca was a little bit amused by the fact that the TARDIS had a life of its own, a personality that could change just like any other person. "So what you're saying is that your TARDIS won't let you leave."

"Exactly."

"The TARDIS must really like me then," Rebecca said, smiling at the idea. "Perhaps even more than it likes you."

"That's completely impossible," The Doctor replied. "Anyway, I have a question for you now. It's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Okay..." Rebecca said, a little bit concerned. What question could he possibly have for her?"

"Can I call you 'Becca'?" He asked her, looking directly in her eyes. He was completely serious.

"Um. Why?" Rebecca asked, a bit confused.

"Because," The Doctor said. "Becca is easier to say. Besides, it sounds cooler than Rebecca."

"Sure, I guess," She said after a moment of debating. "If you really want to. No one's called me that before, that's all."

"If you don't want me calling you that, that's fine," The Doctor said.

"No!" Rebecca said a little too quickly. "No, you can call me that. I kind of like it."

"Great," The Doctor said."_Becca_." He added at the end, pronouncing the words carefully, as if he were savouring the taste.

"Does that mean that I can call you 'Doc'?" Rebecca asked.

"What? No. Absolutely not," The Doctor replied instantly.

"Aw… why not?"

"Because I said so."

"Come on, I'm letting you call me Becca, why can't I call you Doc?" She pressed.

"At least Becca is a good nickname. It sounds cool and-and _sophisticated_. Doc, however, doesn't." Rebecca was about to protest further when suddenly the transporter around them came to a grinding halt. "Looks like we're finally here!" He said cheerfully, glad that the topic of calling him 'Doc' was, for the moment, resolved.

"Looks like," Rebecca said with an inward sigh. She wouldn't let this die; later, when they weren't in danger, she would bring it up again.

The Doctor held out his arm like a complete gentlemen. "Shall we?"

Rebecca smiled and linked her arm with his. "We shall." The door slid open and they stepped out.


End file.
